• A brief introduction to book on The Nayanmars Part I. It is a compilation of the stories of the four great saints in English.

The Nayanmars or Nayanars were a group of Tamil Hindu saints, mostly from the Chola and Pandya kingdoms, who lived between the 7th and 10th centuries. They were devotees of Shiva and their teachings and hymns are considered holy by Tamils.  Their lives and experiences are depicted in the Thevaram, a collection of Tamil devotional hymns.

Among the 63 Nayanmars are four foremost devotees who lived and revived Hinduism through bhakti. These four saints - Appar, Sundarar, Sambandar and Manickavasagar, were the most prolific in their compositions. 

These four saints are called Naalvar in Tamil, meaning The Four. 

This book, The Nayanmars Part I, is a compilation of the stories of the four great saints in English. 

The Nayanmars series will detail the stories of all 63 saints in the books going forward. 

Sandhya Ravishankar has authored this. She is an award winning journalist and the author of Karunanidhi: A Life in Politics published in 2018.

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Also read

1. Lives of Indian Saints

2. Traditions of Himalayan Masters

3. Women Sants of Maharashtra

4. Sant Gyaneshwar – Pioneer of Bhakti Movement